Composite draft-gear yoke



Aug. 23, 1923.

- G- C. MURRAY COMPOSITE DRAFT GEAR YOKE Filed Feb. 7, 1921 masses rear orries.

GEORGE C. MURRAY, OF CHICAGO ILLINOIS.

CQMPOSITE DRAFT-GEAR YOKE.

Application filed February 7, 1921. Serial No. 442,937.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. MURRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new. and

useful Improvements in Composite Draft- Gear Yokes, of which the following is a specification. r

This invention relates to improvements in draft gear yokes for use with the draft mechanism of railway cars and the purpose is to provide an improved composite yoke. The United States standard cast steel yoke, as now constructed, is formed as one integral member, and the principal QbJGCt of the present invention is to provlde a composite yoke approximating the standard cast steel yoke in form but'having the advantage of being stronger, more durable, and less costly to manufacture. An important object of the invention is to provide an improved yoke in which the upper and lower arms are united to the head by welding. Another object is to provide a yoke having the upper and lower arms and the rear wall formed of rolled steel and having the head of the yoke formed of cast steel. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will be more fully set out hereinafter. I The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment is illustrated In the drawings- Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the im:

proved yoke with parts thereof illustrated in longitudinal vertical section; and

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the yoke with portions thereof illustrated in longitudinal horizontal section.

The yoke comprises upper and lower arms 10 and 11, respectively, united by an in: tegral rear wall 12. These parts of the yoke are preferably formed from a bar rolled steel and the forward ends of these arms are inclined inwardly so that they converge toward the forward end of the yoke, as shown at 13. The forward extremities of the' which are formed on the cast steel yoke head 18. The yoke head is cast as an integral construction with side walls 19 united by the integral upper and lower wall 16, and the side walls are arranged to diverge forwardly as shown in Fig. 2, being pro vided along their upper and lower edges with ribs 20 and being provided centrally with other ribs 21 located along the boundaries of the longitudinal slots or keyways 22 which are adapted to receive the key by which the yoke is attached to the drawbar or coupler. The upper and lower edges 23 of the side walls of the yoke converge forwardly from the yoke arms as shown in Fig. 1, while the rear edges 24 of the side walls extend vertically.

The inner surfaces 25 of the upper and lower walls 16 are inclined to conform to the inclination of the inclined parts 13'of the arms of the yoke with which they con tact and the upper and lower surfaces of the Walls 16 lie flush with the upper and lower edges of the side walls 19 and with the upper and lower surfaces of the arms of the yoke when the parts are assembled. In assembling the parts of the yoke the upper and lower arms are compressed at their forward ends to permit them to be passed between the walls 16 of the cast steel head and the arms then spring outwardly to the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The walls 16 are then permanently united to the shoulders 14- of the yoke arms, and also,if desired, to the parts 13 of the yoke arms, by spot welding the parts along their contacting surfaces. The parts are thus firmly secured together and a rigidly constructed yoke is formed which is superior to the usual cast steel yoke.

Owing to the fact that the cast steel head does not project vertically beyond the upper and lower surfaces of the -yoke arms, it is possible to use the yoke with the standard design of sills, draft lugs and draft gear mechanism such as is ordinarily used with the standard cast steel yoke.

Although I, have shown and described one form of the invention for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other forms without departing from the scope of the append ed claim.

I claim:

The combination with a yoke head,

having upper and lower walls and side walls, of upper and lower yoke arms inclined lnwai-dly at their forward ends to pass on the inner sides of sa-id'upper and lower walls, said yoke arms terminating in outwardly directed shoulders adapted to coact with the forward sides of said upper :enosos c. MURRAY. 

